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D03209803P 


MESSAGE  OF  THE  PRESIDENT. 

Richmond,  Va.,  April  20,   18G3. 
To  the   House  of  Representatives : 

I  herewith  transmit,  for  your  information,  a  communication  from 
the  Secretary  of  War,  in  response  to  your  resolution  of  January  24tb, 
in  refence  to  the  exchange  or  release  "  of  persons,  who,  t.i^en.  from 
civil  life,  have  been  transported  and  confined  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
Confederacy. " 

JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 


COMMUNICATION  FROM  THE  SECRETARY  OF  WAR, 

War  Department,  April  13,  1863. 

To  the  President  of  the  Confederate*  States : 

Sir:  In  compliance  with  a  resolution  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives of  the  24th  January  last,  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  the  report 
of  the  lion.  Robert  Oul-L  agent  of  exchange  ot°  prisoners,  *'  as  to  the 
steps  that  have  been  taken  to  procure  the  liberation  and  exchange  of 
rvrisoners,  who,  taken  nom  civil  life  have  been- transported  and  confined 
beyond  the  limits  ot:  the  Cofcder::-  --  "  and    whether  any   and 

what  person  so  confined,  at  the  instance  of  the  government,  have  been 
set  at  liberty. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  A.  SEDDON, 

Secretary  of  War, 


REPORT  OF  ROBERT  OULD. 


Richmond,  April    1 4th.  18 
Hon.  Jamfs  A.  Seodon,  Secretary  rf  War  : 

Sir  :  In  the  matter  of  the  accompanying  resolution  of  the  H  >use 
of  Representatives,  relating  to  citizen  prisoners,  1  have  the  honor  to 
make  the  following  report : 

The  suhject  of  the  arrest  and  detention  of  civilians  has  been  a  mat- 
ter of  controversy  between  the  Federal  agent  of  exchange  and  myself, 
ever  since  the  establishment  of  the  carrel.  I  have  again  and  again 
protested  against  such  arrests  as  illegal  and  contrary  to  the  usages  of 
civilized  w  rfare.  At  an  early  stage  of  the  cartel,  I  urged  the  adop- 
tion of  the  following  rule,  to  wit:  "  That  peaceable,  non  combatant 
citizens  of  both  the  Confederate  and  United  States,  who  are  not  con- 
nected with  any  military  organization,  should  not  be  arrested  by 
either  the  Confederate  or  United  States  army  within  the  territory  of 
the  adverse  party  ;  that,  if  such  a  proposition  was  considered  as  being 
too  broad,  let  the  only  exception  be  in  the  c?ise  of  a  temporary  arrest 
of  parties  within  army  lines,  where  the  arresting  party  has  good  reason 
to  believe  that  their  presence  is  dangerous  to  the  safety  of  the  army 
from  the  opportunity  afforded  of  giving  intelligence  to  the  enemy  ; 
that  then  the  arrest  should  cease  as  soon  as  the  reason  for  making  it 
ceased  in  the  withdrawal  of  the  army,  or  for  any  other  cause;  and, 
finally,  that  the  foregoing  proposal  should  apply  to,  and  include  such, 
arrests  and  impi  isomnents  as  were  then  in  force  " 

The  proposition  was  declined.  I  have  urged  it  frequently  since, 
but  without  success. 

The  Federal  authorities,  on  the  other  hand,  have  always  been  anx- 
ious to  institute  a  system  of  exchange  of  political  prisoners,  man  for 
man.  It  was  a  deeply  laid  scheme  to  interfere  with  the  administra- 
tion of  justice  in  the  Confederate  States,  and  to  give  practical  immu- 
nity to  such  of  their  friends  and  partizans  in  the  South,  as  felt  dis- 
posed to  preach  or  practise  disloyalty.  Under  the  instructions  of  the 
War  Department,  I  have  constantly  refused  to  engage  in  any  such 
system  of  exchanges.  There  was  no  reciprocity  in  the  arrangement. 
It  amounted  to  an  exchange  of  Confederate  citizens  for  Confederate 
citizens,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  enemy  was  in  possessien  of  por- 
tions of  our  own  country,  and  had  therefore  more  fiequent  opportu- 
nities of  making  arrests.  If  any  such  p  opoeal  had  been  accepted, 
we  bhould  soon  have  released  every  civilian  held  by  us,  leaving  many 


hundreds  of  our  own  people  to  languish  in  northern  prisons,  for -whom 
•we  had  no  equivalent  to  offer,  I  repeatedly  offered  to  release  all  polit- 
ical prisoners  held  by  us,  except  such  as  were  held  upon  very  aggra- 
vated charges,  if  the  Federal  authorities  would  do  the  same.  Lately 
they  agreed  to  this  proposition,  coupling  it  with  a  written  statement 
that  it  was  not  their  intention  to  make  any  more  arrests  of  non-com- 
batants. I  had  very  great  doubts  as  to  their  good  fiith  both  as  to  the 
delivery  of  ail  political  prisoners  and  their  di  avowal  of  any  intention 
to  make  any.  more  arrests.  The  sequel  has  proved  that  those  doubts 
in  both  respects  were  well  founded.  A  few  weeks  ago,  in  pretended 
compliance  with' the  agreement,  they  delivered  some  six  hundred  per- 
sons whom  they  called  political  prisoners.  About  one  half  of  that 
number  were  persons  who  had  been  in  our  service  in  the  West,< 
belonging  to  irregular  military  organizations,  and  who,  long  ago,  had 
been  declared  exchanged  under  the  agreement  made  between  lhe  Fede- 
ral agent  and  myself.  Finding  they  could  not  get  any  equivalent  for 
them  as  military  prisoners,  they  attempted  to  palm  them  off  as  political 
prisoners.  The  false  pretence  was  too  apparent  to  deceive  anybody. 
Some  political  prisoners  held  in  this  city,  against  whom  the  charges 
were  not  aggravated,  were  sent  oft  in  return.  The  number  delivered 
by  me  bore  about  the  same  proportiin  to  the  whole  number  held 
by  us,  as  the  number  delivered  by  ihe  Fedelfcil  agent  did  to  all 
the  political  prisoners  held  by  the  Federal  authorities.  They  were 
not  exchanged  one  against  the  other.  They  were  simply  released 
upon  both  sides,  discharged  from  any  paroles  heretofore  given  by 
them.  The  Fedeial  agent  demanded  that  I  should  deliver  to  him 
political  prisoners  equal  in  number  to  those  released  by  him.  I 
refused  to  do  so.  as  the  agreement  was  for  the  release  of  all  political 
prisoners,  and  it  was  necessary  that  the  proper  proportion  should 
he  maintained  on  our  side  to  secure  the  release  of  the  hundreds  still 
held  in  captivity  at  the  North.  If  all  our  prisoners  had  been  deliv- 
ered, I  am  very  sure  no  more  deliveries  would  have  been  made  by  the 
Federal  agent. 

Even  less  faith  has  been  shown  by  the  Federal  authorities  in  the 
matter  of  political  arrests.  Since  the  date  of  their  declaration,  they 
have  made  more  of  such  arrests  than  during  any  other  equal  space 
of  time,  embracing  an  unusual  proportion  of  old  men  and  helpless 
women. 

The  resolution  of  the  House  of  Representatives  specifically  inquires, 
"what  ste-s,  if  any,  have  been  taken  to  procure  the  liberation  of 
persons,  who,  taken  from  civil  life,  have  been  transported  and  confined 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  Confederacy."  In  answer,  I  respectfully 
state  that  at  every  interview,  without  exception,  between  the  Federal 
agent  and  myself,  I  have,  under  the  instruction  of  he  War  Depart- 
ment, brought  the  subject  to  his  attention  in  as  forcible  and  as  earnest 
manner  as  possible — that  I  have  demanded  the  release  of  all  civilians 
held  in  confinement,  and  have  threatened  retaliation.  In  addition, 
whenever  1  have  been  specifically  informed  of  cases  of  incarceration, 
I  have  made  them  the  subjects  of  correspondence  with  the  Federal 
agent.     In  many  cases  1  have  been  successful  in  procuring  the  release 


of  the  parties  named — in  others  I  have  not  succeeded.  Some  have* 
been  released  at  the  North,,  and  allowed  to  make  their  way  to  their 
own  homes,  and  others  have  been  brought  on  flag  of  truce  boats  to 
Varina  and  City  Point.  Some  have  been  discharged  unconditionally, 
and  others  put  on  parole.  With  reference  to  the  latter  cla>s,  all  such 
have  been  relieved  from  any  obligation  contained  in  the  parole,  whe- 
ther it  was  to  return  at  a  certain  time,  to  secure  the  release  of  another 
person,  or  any  other  obligation. 

Some  nine  hundred  so  called  political  prisoners  have  been  received 
by  me  at  Varina  ai.d  City  Point.  Abought  five  or  six  hundred  were 
really  no  a -combatants. 

I  have  no  means  of  knowing  how  many  have  been  allowed  to  make 
the  r  way  to  their  own  homes.  Such  parties  do  not*  report  to  me. 
They  amount,  however,  to  Several  hundreds.  I  have  only  a  record  of 
the  names  of  such  as  were  delivered  at  Varina  and  City  Point  and 
Vicksburg.  Only  a  very  few  have  been  delivered  at  the  latto.  place. 
If  it  be  the  pleasure  of  the  House  of  Representatives  that  the  names 
of  all  such  be  presented,  I  will  cause  them  to  be  separated  from  the 
rolls. 

I  have  delayed  until  the  present  time  this  report,  because,  until 
within  a  few  days  past,  the  whole  subject  was  undetermined.  I 
thought  it,  best,  under  the  circumstances,  to  wait  long  enough  to 
ascertain  whether  the  Federal  authorities  intended  to  carry  out  their 
agieementi  I  am  now  fully  satisfied  they  have  no  such  purpose. 
Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

RO.  OULD, 
Agtnt  of  Exchange. 


Hollinger  Corp. 
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